Democratic U.S. Senate nominee Gordon Ball is calling on Republican incumbent Lamar Alexander to debate him in major Tennessee cities before the Nov. 4 election.

"Televised debates will allow the voters of this state to see the stark differences in my vision for Tennessee and Sen. Lamar Alexander's vision of Tennessee," Ball, an attorney, said last week.

Alexander campaign spokesman Brian Reisinger said in an email response that "there will be plenty of opportunity in the next 10 weeks for Tennesseans to see the difference between Sen. Alexander's opponent — who would be one more vote for the Obama agenda — and putting Lamar Alexander's experience to work in a new Senate majority."